Christianity and the Problem of Human Violence: Part 59: The Wrath . . . of God? part 3: Romans 9:22

The two previous essays have explored how the notion of “the wrath” has
repeatedly been mistranslated as “God’s wrath” or the “wrath of God,”
reflecting translators’ assumption that “the wrath” derives from God rather
than from human idolatries and wickedness. Romans 9:22 reads, “What if God,
desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with
much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction.” Rev. Nuechterlein
has noted that the first “his” (autou in Greek) is not there. A more literal
translation is, “What if God, desiring to show the wrath and to make known
his power . . .” In other words, I think Nuechterlein is correct in arguing
that “the vessels of wrath made for destruction” reflect human
destructiveness and include things like the whip, the crown of thorns, the
nails, and the cross. The power of God is not manifested in creating the
wrath; rather, it is in enduring the wrath “with much patience” in the
personage of Jesus Christ. Wrathful judgment is something the power of God
endures; it is not something God sponsors.

Why is human judgment wrathful? It is because people have repeatedly
worshipped false gods to whom people have attributed their own desires for
violence and scapegoating. This is why Jesus told his disciples, “The hour
is coming when whoever kills you will think that they are offering a service
to God, and this they will do because they have not known the Father nor
me.” (John 16:2-3) I think this is the reason that Christianity has a long
and sad history of scapegoating violence against Jews, non-Christian people
of color, Christian sects with “heretical beliefs,” homosexuals, “witches,”
animals, and others. Christians have repeatedly made the error that has
plagued humankind since the foundation of human civilization of projecting
their own wrath onto God. Believing in a wrathful God has encouraged people
everywhere, including Christians, to perform acts of violence “in the name
of God.” It is tempting to believe that God hates the same people we do, but
I think the apostle Paul was trying to show that the wrath exists among
humans and is not an attribute of God.

Why have translators of Paul’s letter to the Romans so often converted
the Greek orgé (literally, “wrath”) to “wrath of God” or “God’s wrath.” I
think the reason is that, despites Christ’s messages of love and
forgiveness, we have remained so mired in scapegoating violence that it
seems natural and obvious to attribute our own wrath to God. In addition,
the Bible has passages that seem to describe God as wrathful. One of the
most notable passages is Deuteronomy 32:35, which reads, “Vengeance is mine,
says the Lord” (Deut 32:35). But, there is another way to look at it.
Perhaps we are to understand that only God has the right to mete out
vengeance, though God does not necessarily do so. If prophets had told the
ancient Hebrews that God had no desire for vengeance at all, these prophets
would have been dismissed as insane or killed as heretics.

Mired in the scapegoating mechanism, the ancient Hebrews would have found
it impossible to believe that God did not seek retributive “justice” against
evildoers. The only way to have the ancient Hebrews refrain from vengeance
against those they hated as perceived “evildoers” was to convince them that
God punishes “evildoers.” They would have found it unacceptable to believe
that “evildoers” would not eventually get their comeuppance. The
pronouncement “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord” satisfied the ancient
Hebrews that God would punish evildoers, because they likely did not
consider it possible that vengeance is not part of God’s plan.

We are now ready to turn to one of the hardest aspects of Jesus’
ministry, the instruction to forgive those who have offended us. I will
devote a considerable amount of time to this subject, because I think it is
central to Christian faith.

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